Ode to Music Students.

When I was a young child, the music played in my home was largely country and rock or hymns. Of course I had my own music too…Sesame Street, Anne Murray’s Hippo in My Bathtub, Mother Goose Favourites and the like. There was always music playing or being played but I didn’t receive a great deal of exposure…

I love the saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” because it is so true. How can you know something you have never learned or experienced or been told? When I was a teenager I wanted to learn to drive a standard. A friend agreed to teach me, but when my first question was…

How do you know when you are an exceptional student? When your teacher is always asking you for something new! You work hard at the shaping of a phrase so now your teacher requests that you add more rubato. You finally reach the metronome speed in your lesson book and your teacher comes up with…

The weather is getting warmer (well hotter actually!) and exams are fast approaching. Classes at The Music Box are beginning to wind down. By the end of June all keyboard classes will be finished for the summer, but that doesn’t mean the music books and pianos should become dust collectors for the next 8 weeks…

This month I had a Canadian composer visit my students and the students of a colleague. Tyler Seidenberg was born in Oakville and while in highschool began a compositional journey that culminated in a series of  solos/duets for piano. His work is both interesting  and challenging for the growing musician.  I often hear “sweet” from students during an intro to…

I had a parent approach me this week with some positive comments about their child’s progress. She was thrilled with how her little guy was able play and how it was so nice to hear actual music coming from the living room. “Practice really does work!” she said. We both laughed at that….I mean…of course…